Moscow School District discusses options to rebuild or reconfigure middle and high schools; steering committee planned

Moscow School District leaders discussed three broad options to address aging middle- and high-school facilities — purchase land for a new high school, develop a single unified campus, or swap the current middle- and high-school uses and renovate in stages — and said they will form a steering committee to examine costs, staging, traffic and community support. No board votes were taken.

District staff and consultants described tradeoffs including a roughly $2,000,000 estimate to acquire a potential parcel on the outskirts of town, logistical challenges of staging construction so students can continue classes, limited parking and drop‑off space downtown, and the small size of the existing main high‑school classrooms. Staff said a swap (moving the high school to the east campus and converting the downtown campus to a middle school) could reduce land acquisition costs but would require multi‑year, modular construction and detailed traffic and bus‑routing plans.

Board members were told specific facilities elements under study: adding a gym and performing-arts space at the east campus, repurposing the downtown multipurpose room for career/technical education, relocating or reconfiguring tennis courts, and addressing a science annex that needs a new roof and HVAC work. Staff said the science annex roof and HVAC likely require “hundreds of thousands” of dollars in near‑term repairs.

Administrators flagged non‑financial constraints as central to any bond or major capital plan: Idaho law requires a supermajority for many bond measures, and the district must be able to present a community‑facing plan explaining what would happen to the downtown high‑school building if students move elsewhere. Staff described options for selling, transferring, or repurposing the downtown site and said appraisals would focus primarily on land value rather than building replacement cost.

The superintendent and staff emphasized the need for a representative community steering committee to probe assumptions, test staging scenarios (for example, phased renovations floor‑by‑floor while students remain in portions of a building), and help craft a proposal the broader community will support. Staff said the steering committee would include parents, teachers, district staff, and community members across the political spectrum; the board will be represented but the group’s purpose is to test and refine options rather than make a final decision.

Next steps described by staff include forming the steering committee, commissioning more detailed cost and staging estimates if the board chooses to proceed with one option, and returning to the board with refined plans and timelines. Staff did not present a final cost estimate or a proposed bond package during the meeting.